Access to dental care for RI children increasing

PROVIDENCE, RI – By MEGAN HALL Rhode Island's rate of children with access to dental care is climbing, but there's still more work to be done. That's the conclusion of a new report on oral health out today from Rhode Island Kids Count.

Executive director Elizabeth Burke Bryant says although nearly 90% of all kids in the Ocean State have access to a dentist, there's a lot of variation in whether they get the care they need.

"We still see disproportionality between children of color and white children," she says. "We see a gap between children of means and children who are low income children."

Burke Bryant says those children are five times more likely to have rampant tooth decay and twice as likely to have untreated cavities.